Recycling: RePEat licences PET recycling tech to China’s Jianxin; Circularix starts production at inaugural rPET facility in US

Japan’s RePEaT Co, a joint venture between Teijin Limited, JGC Holdings Corporation and Itochu Corporation, says that it has signed an agreement to license its chemical recycling technology for polyester products to Zhejiang Jianxin Jiaren New Materials Co., Ltd.

RePEat was formed to license recycling technology based on Teijin’s expertise in dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), JGC’s expertise for general engineering in plant construction, and Itochu’s global network spanning diverse industries.

Zhejiang Jianxin, established in 2022, is a member of the Jinggong Holding Group, which operates businesses in China focused on environmental management in the steel, textile, building materials and beverage sectors. Under the group, there is Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Co., Ltd., who is specialized in operating chemical-recycling plants.

RePEaT will provide a technology that uses the organic compound DMT for the chemical decomposition, conversion and then repolymerisation of polyester (PET). Zhejiang Jianxin will use the technology in a polyester-product recycling plant it plans to start up in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province next year.

RePEaT supports the implementation of resource-recovery mechanisms (ecosystems) for the recycling of polyester products to help reduce CO2 emissions in both the manufacture and eventual disposal of polyester clothing.

In other news, Circularix, a joint venture between Macquarie Group, a provider of risk management, market access and capital solutions, and management firm HPC Industries has opened its first recycling plant in Hatfield, US.

The facility will produce about 29,000 tonnes of food-grade recycled PET (rPET) pellets from recycled PET flakes.

Circularix plans include building and operating five recycling facilities across the US with a total production capacity of more than 124,000 tonnes/year of rPET resin.

“We are operational at our Hatfield facility and on schedule to complete our U.S. expansion,” says Leon Farahnik, Chairman/CEO of Circularix. “Our commitment is first and last to helping companies meet their sustainability goals as together we contribute concretely and responsibly to a sustainable future.”

Macquarie formed its Sustainable Waste Solutions team in 2020 to provide finance and growth capital solutions to clients in the waste sector, with a focus on helping to advance the circular economy.

HPC Industries, based in Los Angeles, is a management corporation founded with a commitment to sustainability and a circular economy. Its Chairman, Leon Farahnik, is a leader and innovator in post-consumer plastics recycling with more than 40 years in the plastic industry. HPC has established and operated numerous pioneering operations and facilities including CarbonLITE Recycling, which Farahnik developed into the world’s largest recycler of plastic beverage bottles.

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